Ricoh has released the latest camera in its GR range of high-end compact cameras, the Ricoh GR III. For good reason, the GR range has long had a cult following going back to its film versions.
Overall, the GR III is a bigger upgrade over the GR II than the GR II was over the GR. It’s slightly smaller, has better image quality and expanded capabilities, and has simplified controls with the addition of a touch screen. But it still stays true to most of the things about the GR range that have made it such a popular choice for street photographers and as incognito cameras for travel photographers.
I’ve been shooting with it since was released, and I’ve been very impressed in most respects. In one important aspect, however, it has fallen short–focusing in low light. Ricoh has recently issued a firmware update to address that, and so far it’s working better for me. So if you’re still using the original firmware, make sure to update to at least V1.10 (you can find it here.
I’m posting these here in case they’re useful to anyone wanting to get a look at some high-resolution photos that have been taken with the GR III under real-world shooting conditions. I’ve tried to include a range of different types of scenes, with different exposure settings, and with an emphasis on challenging lighting conditions. This is a camera I expect to be shooting with a lot, so I’ll try to add some more shots from time to time.
I’ve previously posted a set of sample images focusing specifically on the GR III’s high ISO settings. You can find them here. And you can see some sample images from the GR II here.
Ricoh GR III Photos
All of these were originally shot in RAW and have been only lightly processed in Lightroom. I haven’t applied any of the optical corrections such as chromatic aberration, vignetting, or barrel distortion.
You can click on each image to open a full-size version for a closer look, and I’ve included the exposure information in the caption below each photo.
Exposure details: ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/4.
Exposure details: ISO 800 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₁₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 320 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₄₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₄₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1250 at ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 250 and ⅛ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 500 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 4000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 800 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅₀ sec at ƒ/2.8. You can see some rather odd streaky flare at right with the bright light source (ie. the sun) just off the frame to the right.
Exposure details: ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₅₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 2000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₈₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 2500 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 800 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec at ƒ/5.6.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₂₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 5000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅₀ sec at ƒ/6.3.
Exposure details: ISO 3200 at ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/4.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₄₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₁₆₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 4000 and ¹⁄₃₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 800 and ¹⁄₂₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 12800 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₂₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 2500 at ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 640 and ¹⁄₄₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1000 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 2000 and ¹⁄₄₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 320 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/11.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/11.
Exposure details: ISO 2000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₁₆₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₄₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₁₆₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₈₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 2000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 16000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1600 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 800 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/4.
Exposure details: ISO 10000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/5.6.
Exposure details: ISO 250 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/11.
Exposure details: ISO 10000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 5000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/4.
Exposure details: ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₁₆₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 6400 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₅₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 2500 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 20000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 3200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 320 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 640 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 640 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 4000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 1000 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₂₀₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 200 and ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at ƒ/11.
Exposure details: ISO 1250 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 and ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 800 and ¹⁄₆₀ sec at ƒ/2.8.
Exposure details: ISO 100 at ¹⁄₂₀₀ sec at ƒ / 8.0.
Exposure details: ISO 16000 at ¹⁄₂₀₀ sec at ƒ / 2.8.
Where to Find the Ricoh GR III
You can find the Ricoh GR III at B&H Photo and Amazon.
George Runcis says
For me the quality and ability of a camera to render a reasonably faithful reproduction of what I see is soon tested when photographing people – usually at fairly close or medium distances, say 3 to ten meters – under varying conditions. It’s not easy to ascertain the cameras ability to reproduce faithfully when taking pictures of objects and general scenery.
Your review might have been a little more informative for me had you taken more shots of people within the context of the environment they are in, as in environmental portraiture, which my gr ii is quite capable of. But then it’s horses for courses. Juri.
David says
Helpful feedback—thanks. I’ll look to add some.